Here are the
highlights of a conversation with Jack Gray, FDR Class of ’58.

It
was an entirely different era then. The team received little support
from FDR High School. The rowers would have to get to the boathouse
on their own, usually piling far too many kids into the car of a
senior rower. Since many families only had one car that was usually
used by the parent who was working, the boys had to either walk or
hitchhike home after practice. The crew tank shirt in the display was
the only uniform tank Jack was given to last all his years of rowing.
If a rower outgrew his shirt, it was his responsibility to trade with
another rower or just wear the small one.

The
team only had four men wooden shells with wooden oars which weighed
at least three times the weight of shells currently used. Their
version of an indoor rowing machine was two 2 x 12 wooden beams with
shell seats and oarlocks mounted on them. When they would ‘row’,
the machine would actually move across the gym floor.

Jack’s
first coach when he was in eighth grade was an FDR art teacher with
no experience in coaching or crew. The rowers were placed in boats
based on seniority, not skill level. The team was not very successful
at that time.

In
Jack’s freshman year, FDR hired Coach Decker. He was the varsity
stroke at Annapolis and certainly had more knowledge and experience.
Now the best rowers rowed in the varsity boat. He switched out
rowers often during practices to create the rosters. He would row all
three boats against each other on Friday and race the best rowers as
varsity at the race on Saturday. Jack rowed bow in the varsity boat
in tenth, eleventh and twelfth grade.

The
National School Boy Regatta was held in Poughkeepsie when Jack was in
eighth grade. Then it was held in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
With Coach Decker as their coach, they placed at each regatta.

During
Jack’s time as a member of the crew team, the boathouse burned down
and had to be rebuilt. The conditions on the Hudson were less than
ideal. When they were rowing, they had to deal with a lot of debris,
not just the logs our rowers often see. There was so much debris
that it was the job of the freshmen rowers to clean the dock daily
before launching. He said there was a dead cow drifting in the river
one day.

One
of his most memorable races happened in the Spring of ’56. There
was an invitational meet in Poughkeepsie with FDR, Poughkeepsie and a
private school. The conditions were rough but the race took place.
The private school’s boat was closest to shore. Poughkeepsie’s
shell was next to them and Jack’s boat was further in river. The
private school boat took on water and stopped rowing about half way
through the race. Poughkeepsie got to about the 1000 meter point and
sank. FDR was also taking on water and were rowing in the toughest
lane. They were sinking but were only 50 meters from the finish line.
They all agreed that they needed to finish the race. At this point,
the bow was lifted a little out of the water and the coxswain was up
to his neck in water. The coxswain had created his own headband and
megaphone. There was a wave that caught the stroke’s oarlock and
pushed the oar into the coxswain’s megaphone and face. He then used
the megaphone to bail out the boat. The rowers in seats 1 and 2
actually were able to row and they finished the race while seats 3
and 4 were in water in the boat. At the finish line, they all jumped
out of the boat that then had to get towed to shore.

Jack
continues to exercise regularly. He accredits his desire to stay fit
and exercise to his time on the FDR Crew Team. He is in his seventies
and runs distance races regularly.